The goal of this project is to understand the different roles of the visual cortex and superior colliculus in the processing of visual information. In particular, I would like to test the hypothesis that the colliculus is involved in visual orientation and attention while the cortex is primarily involved in visual discrimination. To do this I plan to raise animals with several types of visual deprivation. I will compare the effects of these deprivation procedures on the physiology of the visual cortex with their effects on the physiology of the superior colliculus. Then I will examine the effects of deprivation on the ability of the animals to perform a variety of tasks requiring vision. Where possible, I hope to relate the physiological to the behavioral effects of deprivation. For example, I have found that if an animal is reared with artificial strabismus, the strabismic eye drives very few cells in its ipsilateral colliculus. Since the visual field contralateral to the strabismic eye is mapped onto this colliculus, I predict that the strabismic eye will be deficient in controlling visual orientation to objects presentd in its contralateral visual field. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: Packwood, James and Gordon, Barbara. Stereopsis in the normal domestic cat, Siamese cat and cat raised with alternating monocular occlusion. J. Neurophysiol. 38, 1485-1499 (1975).